The 2013 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by AMSOIL wrapped up a week-long competition on Saturday, officially crowning 36 National Champions at the evening’s award ceremonies. Adverse weather conditions presented additional obstacles for the racers but in the end, the 32nd annual championship proved to be one of the most historic events to date.

For the first time ever, Loretta Lynn’s was broadcast live on RacerTV.com all week long with the ultimate culmination on Saturday afternoon as the 250 A and 250 B final motos were broadcast live on NBC as part of the Red Bull Signature Series. In front of a mass audience on network television, 250 A National Champion Matt Bisceglia and 250 B National Champion Aaron Plessinger each put in a spectacular final moto to close out their week at the Ranch.

Double World Champion, Casey Stoner, climbed aboard a MotoGP machine for the first time today since retiring from the sport in November 2012. However, Bad weather affected his return and the Honda development test at the Twin Ring Motegi in Tochigi, Japan.

The original plan was for Casey to re-familiarize himself with the RC213V – 2013 machine, in the morning and then test the new 2014 prototype in the afternoon and a few other test items. Unfortunately, after just 6 laps the rain arrived and halted testing for the day.

Casey Stoner

“It was good to get back on the bike, if only for a few laps! We only managed to get one run in before the rain arrived which was a little disappointing. It was really nice to get that first run, it’s been 9 months since I’ve been on a bike and it’s going to take me some time to get used to everything again! The bike and the track felt good and I hope that we can get some better testing in tomorrow with some dry track time and run some more laps.”

As a Red Bull test and reserve driver, the New Zealander, who moved to Europe at the age of 16, had come up through the single-seater ranks and showed promise in Formula Renault 3.5, being touted as the energy drink giant’s next greatest star.

But after being dropped from the Red Bull Junior Team midway through the 2010 season, Hartley was forced to re-evaluate his long-term prospects for F1, despite later making repeated attempts of breaking into the sport’s pinnacle.

“Growing up, my dream was F1,” Hartley says in a SPEED.com interview. “But the start of last year, I realized that it’s not as easy to get there as meets the eye. There are only 22 seats and the majority of the seats are taken up by drivers who are paying to be there. I’m not saying I deserve to be there more than anyone else.

“I had a big chance and was very close to being a Formula One driver, probably more than people realize. But at that moment in my career, I was young and a bit lost within my head and I didn’t cope with the pressure I had around me and missed out on the opportunity.”

In the first of a three-part SPEED.com video series exploring the rise of 8Star Motorsports, Enzo Potolicchio discusses his team’s progress through its first season of Daytona Prototype racing in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

Charlie Kimball overtook Simon Pagenaud at the end of the long backstretch on Lap 73 of 90 and went on to win the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio for his first IZOD IndyCar Series victory.

The Camarillo, Calif., native is the ninth different winner in 14 races this season and the fourth first-time winner. In the previous five seasons, there were five total first-time winners. Four different teams were represented in the top five.

“It’s nice when the team gives you such a great car,” said Kimball, who started fifth in the Honda-powered No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chip Ganassi Racing car on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. “All I needed to do was to hit the lap times they needed me to.”